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THE PIERRE CARDIN LEGACY

PIERRE CARDIN may be 86-years-old, but the former head of Christian Dior is not ready to slow down just yet. "I'm an old man, but I don't feel like an old man. I want to do something new, I want to continue. I don't need clothes - I am so rich - to stay in life," he says. "For what? I want to improve myself. I do not want to live for eating. Isn't that what you expect from life when you are old - dinner parties and only sleeping? Food, fashion, music, art, films, theatre - I like everything." Remowned for his extensive licensing - the Cardin empire runs the gauntlet from womenswear to lamps, and indirectly employs around 200,000 people - for many years the designer has been immersing himself in the arts from his home in Lacoste, in the south of France, while his label is on sale with an asking price of $1.2 billion. But fashion, of course, is where his legend remains - and he continues to have a keen eye for the business of dressing today. "It's more commercial. But who buys the clothes? People. You can dream, of course, but poor people can't buy those clothes," Cardin tells WWD. "If you'd like to build your name, whether you are a designer, writer, musician or artist, people have to be able to recognise your style before they see the name. To only have beautiful clothes is not enough." "To copy is not talent, it's taste," he adds. "For me, my talent made the money, not the money made the name." (April 14 2008, AM) Leisa Barnett